Senator Kerry Returns To Kabul For Karzai Talks

John Kerry has visited Afghanistan twice this week

U.S. Senator John Kerry has returned abruptly to Afghanistan to see President Hamid Karzai after a two-day visit earlier this week.

In Washington, Kerry's office confirmed that instead of returning to Washington, the head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee had flown back to Kabul from neighboring Pakistan, where he surveyed damage from floods.

Kerry visited Afghanistan on August 17-18.

Spokesman Fred Jones declined to provide a specific reason for Kerry to hold a second round of meetings with Karzai, except to say more details would be available after the talks.

Other sources said Kerry was expected to push Karzai to be flexible on the four-month deadline for security contractors to leave, a timeline the Pentagon called "very aggressive" and challenging.

compiled from agency reports